Stalemate
by Shade the Hero
Summary: They've been going at it for years. Something needs to change.


_Just a short drabble that I forgot I had. I meant to post it months ago._

 _Enjoy!_

 _Final Fantasy VII and all its characters belong to Square Enix_

* * *

They had played this song and dance many times before. So often had their blades clashed that they both had lost count. Decades had gone by and every time the demon revived he was always met with the planet's champion.

Cloud Strife and Sephiroth exchanged blows before locking their blades together. They pushed against each other, trying to force the other off balance. They had tested their strength so many times it wasn't even a game for the mind. They merely had to let their bodies fall into the normal patterns. Sephiroth was always fighting to destroy the world and Cloud to save it.

Things had changed recently. Their fights had grown longer and their injuries fewer, especially on Cloud's end. So far he hadn't even gotten a scratch. Sephiroth would be defeated, but he would always come back. Though, he seemed to noticed what Cloud had realized long ago. Which is why he wasn't surprised when both he and Cloud exchanged looks and lowered their swords.

The blonde was no longer young. Mako could do wonders, but when a person reaches the age of sixty-three there's only so much it can do. Likewise, Sephiroth was no longer in his prime either. Jenova kept reviving him in the same body he had when he died the first time, but being revived countless times took its toll as well.

Sephiroth blinked at his enemy before deciding he would ask first. "Have you finally realized it yet?"

"That we're just pawns on a god's chess board? Yeah," Cloud replied.

Sephiroth chuckled at that description and smirked. "Well said. Then are you…"

"Done playing? How'd you guess?"

Cloud stabbed First Tsurugi into the ground and sat down, crossing his legs and folding his arms, waiting to see what his foe would do.

With a respected smirk, Sephiroth stabbed Masamune into the ground and copied his rival.

They sat, arms folded and stared at each other. It was Cloud who spoke next.

"I'm so tired."

"Agreed. I wish we had realized this sooner. We could have saved ourselves the trouble." Sephiroth looked over at Cloud and tilted his head. "Did you ever raise a family?"

Cloud huffed at that. "After you took my last one away? I'm not that stupid. Besides, your threats are very effective."

Sephiroth smirked at that. "I suppose they are. Shame though, your passion might have made some of our battles a bit less boring."

Cloud couldn't help the smile that crossed his face or the laughter that escaped his throat. "What, getting beat seventy-eight times in a row wasn't good enough for you?"

"I'm sure you got bored of killing me time and again long ago."

They both exchanged looks and reflected the ludicrous statement before the battlefield echoed with their laughter.

It was a few minutes before the laughter died down and the two looked at each other, not as eternal enemies, but as equal warriors, rivals, and possibly….friends? The humor left them as they both came to the same realization.

"We've both been used right from the start," Sephiroth said.

"Used like puppets," Cloud agreed.

"Jenova pulling my strings and Gaia pulling yours," Sephiroth added.

It was Cloud who suggested what they both wanted to do. "Why don't we let them fight their own battle for once?"

"Gods and demons forced to get their own hands dirty? Why not, besides, toys don't last forever and I'm tired of playing someone else's game."

"So you're done with world destruction," asked Cloud, hopeful.

"I'm done being a mother's son," the silverette replied.

Cloud smirked. "I think you mean momma's boy."

Sephiroth nodded and tilted his head slightly. "What about you, are you done playing the hero?"

Cloud huffed at that. "If order to be a hero you need to actually be able to save people. I have a good track record, but I'm far from perfect."

Sephiroth nodded and sighed. "No one is."

They sat there into the night, neither one moving from their meditation position and reflected on their pasts. Finally the true masters began to get annoyed and acted. Jenova filled her chosen son's mind with images of killing the blonde and of her glorious dream of sailing the cosmos with the planet as her vessel. While Gaia forced images of Cloud's past into his own mind. She had originally called out to Cloud's two most trusted friends, but Aerith and Zack ignored her summons. They were backing their friend one hundred percent.

After they both woke up, sprawled on their backs in the mud they both confirmed what happened to the other before standing up and shouting to the heavens;

"We're done with your immature quarrel," Sephiroth shouted.

"Find someone else to do your dirty work," Cloud added.

Lightning struck in response as the storm broke and when the morning sun rose it sparkled off two blades that stood, stuck in the ground side by side. Their owners no where to be seen.


End file.
